Let's be real...movies suck these days.
I understand that major studios are businesses, so they continue churning out shitty superhero movies that break the bank and dominate the box office.
I get it. We're at a stage in human evolution where the Internet and smartphones have reinforced instant gratification, and short, stupid YouTube videos are quicker and "easier" to watch than original films that require moderate attention spans and a modicum of critical thinking.
Moviegoers choose these superhero sequels -- The Fast and the Furious franchise included, even though Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) isn't exactly a superhero -- for a few reasons: (1) they are already familiar with the characters, so they don't have to pay attention to get to know them, (2) shit blows up and (3) things go fast. We're talking about really challenging stuff, here.
With the quality of film declining as the demolition of Hollywood hastens, it's increasingly more difficult for me to find good movies to recommend to you. With that unfortunate reality in mind, in the coming months, I'll be highlighting some of the better films I've seen in the past few years.
Let me be clear about this point: these are not necessarily movies that were MADE in the past few years -- though some will qualify under that heading -- they are simply films that I've SEEN, for the first time during that span. Please note that Steve Jobs, A Perfect Murder and Bad Moms would also be on this list, but I've already reviewed them.
But nowadays, readers speed-scroll through the intros, so the clock is ticking...let's go...
HONORABLE MENTION
BASQUIAT (1996)
Basquiat was well-received by the critics -- it has a 70% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a surprising 77% approval rating from the audience (I expected those numbers to be flipped) -- but it wasn't a film that made a lot of noise.
Shockingly, Jeffrey Wright (who played the late Jean-Michel Basquiat) was NOT nominated for an Oscar for his magnetic and fascinating performance, in a year where Geoffrey Rush (Shine) edged out Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient) and Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire). I feel Wright could have easily earned that golden statuette; at the very least, he was right there with those guys.
Basquiat is a film with no particular shape or form, kind of like his art, and the man himself. It creates a brilliant little allegory within itself, and Wright is incredibly good at working off the sophisticated structure set up by director Julian Schnabel, who just so happens to be a well-known artist. It's no coincidence that this movie feels like it knows the ins and outs of the NYC art world.
One of the great things about Basquiat is that we really get to know Jean-Michel, which in turn, means we don't get to know him at all. He was famously aloof and distant, seemingly always on drugs, drifting in and out of people's lives. He may have been extremely important to them, but to him, they were temporary distractions en route to his next high, source of inspiration or person to help him climb the next rung on the ladder of his career.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was kind of a jerk; but his puzzling personality makes for an interesting movie on its own.
For me, one of the best parts of writing film reviews in hindsight is seeing the evolution of an actor's career, then backtracking. Personally, I know Jeffrey Wright best from Syriana, W., Source Code and The Ides of March, four films in which he portrays a serious man with political clout, or a doctor. When I first read the description of Basquiat and saw the name Jeffrey Wright, my initial thought was that's a pretty common-sounding name, it's probably a different actor. The Wright in Basquiat is unrecognizable in the stern, focused, gravel-voiced characters of the more recent works of his interesting career.
And while the Wright of recent years is certainly better known, his naturalistic performance in Basquiat remains the best of his career. We also get a fantastic performance from the late David Bowie as the enigmatic art legend, Andy Warhol.
I understand that Bowie will always be better-known for his musical career -- though, the most I know about it is that the funny guy from Grandma's Boy chases him into an elevator in Almost Famous -- but this man could really act. I thought Bill Hader provided a funny and entertaining interpretation of Warhol in Men in Black 3, but Bowie takes the dedication to a whole 'nother level. I watched the entire movie and had absolutely NO CLUE that Bowie was under the Warhol hair and makeup. Talk about disappearing into a role. I also enjoyed his restrained work as famed scientist Nikola Tesla in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. Seems like Bowie would only take character roles in big movies if he was playing someone uber-famous. Alas, that's a psychological analysis for another day.
We also get a high-energy, somewhat-annoying performance from Michael Wincott as art salesman Rene Ricard, Jean-Michel's initial gateway into the high-end art world. He, like Wright and Bowie, was totally committed. Benicio Del Toro, Christopher Walken, Parker Posey and Courtney Love all sink into their supporting roles, playing variations on the personas they've cultivated over the years. Sheila Jaffe (The Sopranos, Ted, Secretariat) casted the hell out of this thing, with help from Georgianne Walken, Christopher's wife.
In the end, Basquiat the film won't be for everyone; just like Basquiat the man, and his work. I really enjoyed it because of the performances, direction and the fact that it made me think about the very nature of high-end, big-money art. Similar philosophical questions popped into my mind during the art documentaries Exit Through the Gift Shop and My Kid Could Paint That. I recommend all three films.
** JOHNNY FRO'S RATING: 8.5 out of 10 **
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS
10. SPLIT (2016)
What if M. Night Shyamalan's name was Elmer Clutterbuck, would he be as famous as he is now? Would he ever have received the Big Break that all Hollywood power players needed at some point in their careers?
I don't think he would have. I once made an argument that Andrew Luck became a highly-overrated football player because he has a "good, strong name." A name is branding. That's why famous people change their names from Reginald Dwight to Elton John, Peter Hernandez to Bruno Mars, Mark Sinclair to Vin Diesel and Norma Jean Baker to Marilyn Monroe. They also modify their names from Olivia Cockburn to Olivia Wilde, Joaquin Bottom to Joaquin Phoenix and John Stephens to John Legend.
The famous Indian-born director falls into the second category, transitioning from Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan to the "M. Night" we know today. Imagine saying Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan every time you talked about the ending of The Sixth Sense?
Anyway, M. Night's had a famously-tumultuous career as a big-name director, with historic flops like The Happening (quite possibly the worst and most tone-deaf movie I've ever seen), The Last Airbender and Lady in the Water, and megahits like Sixth Sense, Signs and now, Split. Maybe M. Night should stick to titles beginning with S.
While we heard that The Visit may have been a "return to form" for this inconsistent director, that, in fact, was not the case. I will concede that many of the pure directorial aspects of The Visit were expertly handled, but at the end of the day, I judge films in totality. M. Night also wrote The Visit, which means he penned the most annoying child character in the history of film, Tyler, played painfully by Ed Oxenbould, who is the kind of actor who broke into the business by overacting and straining in a way that screams LOOK AT ME, PLEASE. Try to watch that link of Oxenbould rapping without wanting to smash your iPad into a thousand pieces or write a letter to that kid that says you should probably find another line of work.
You can stretch and blame Douglas Aibel (Manchester by the Sea, Moonrise Kingdom) for the catastrophic casting, but writing and directing a film centered on two kids, you know M. Night supported Oxenbould and his on-screen sister, Olivia DeJonge, who wasn't great either. M. Night is a complete-control kind of director, so he had to think casting Oxenbould as a kid rapper was a good idea.
So, The Visit wasn't a return to form, but Split certainly is. Split is a dark, interesting movie, anchored by James McAvoy's electrifying performance and Shyamalan's slick, self-assured direction.
** SPOILERS AHEAD **
It starts with a bang. I generally bash movies that start slow -- why should I care about your movie if nothing happens in the first 15-20 minutes? -- so I was instantly engaged when Shyamalan's camera approached Mr. Benoit (Neal Huff) as he loaded up the trunk of his car. The camera creeps up slowly, and you know things aren't going to end well for Mr. Benoit. Once "Dennis" makes his silent entrance into the driver's seat, Claire (Haley Lu Richardson, a rising star) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) start freaking out, while Casey (an intriguing Anya Taylor-Joy) maintains her Spartan-esque resolve.
M. Night's foreshadowing is heavy-handed, as usual, but the entire sequence is skillfully shot. If that doesn't draw you into a film, I don't know what will.
Once Casey, Claire and Marcia are abducted and relocated, McAvoy begins to emphasize why the title of the film is Split. We get to meet "Patricia" the sophisticated and ruthless British blueblood; "Hedwig" the childish lackey, and "Barry" the polite-but-fidgety leader who tends to come out for Dr. Karen Fletcher (a wonderful Betty Buckley), the psychologist devoted to helping the man trapped within these 24 distinct personalities.
I really enjoyed the psychological aspects of the film. Dr. Fletcher contests that Kevin is not insane, and that these distinct personalities truly exist as separate entities. Kevin (like Casey) was abused as a child, and Dr. Fletcher postulates that he has created many of these identities as defense mechanisms and sources of protection against the pain. Barry speaks for the others, Hedwig is the hurt child deep inside, Dennis lashes out as the mischief derived from the pain and "The Beast" is the unstoppable nightmare buried below 23 better-functioning personalities.
Dr. Fletcher tries desperately to understand and empathize with Kevin, but you can't rationalize with pure evil. We've learned that in the past, from dark films like David Fincher's Se7en, the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men and Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Dr. Fletcher learns the hard way, suffering a gruesome death as The Beast literally squeezes the life out of her. We hear her bones crack.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about the movies that appeal to our human natures. Sure, the mindless popcorn flicks attract the masses, but think about some of the films we consider as classics: Martin Scorsese's bloody, bad-guy gangster films like Goodfellas, The Departed and Casino; the same for Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather I and II; Quentin Tarantino's foul-mouthed and uber-violent Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds; Alfred Hitchcock's suspenseful and sometimes-disturbing Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window and The Birds; shoot-em-up Westerns like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Outlaw Josey Wales, and graphic war movies like Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now and Platoon.
What does that say about us? What makes a movie great? Profanities, sex, scares, blood and death?
Maybe it's because these things are so foreign to our normal, everyday lives. Who knows. But in the end, the grittiness of Split brings Shyamalan back into the discussion of seriously-talented filmmakers. This is a film that delves into deep, dark places, and it came out making over $275 million off a $9 million budget. That's economical, and this is a film that resurrects a career.
We'll see if M. Night Shyamalan is here to stay when Glass opens in January of 2019. For now, he can sit back and enjoy temporary success.
** JOHNNY FRO'S RATING: 8.5 out of 10 **
LNB's Updated Rankings (score changes made to Bad Moms, Moonlight, The Revenant and Mother's Day):
1. Up in the Air (9.5/10) Archived here
2. Steve Jobs (9.5/10)
3. Stay (9/10) Archived here
4. Gone Girl (9/10) Archived here
5. Tape (9/10) Archived here
2. Steve Jobs (9.5/10)
3. Stay (9/10) Archived here
4. Gone Girl (9/10) Archived here
5. Tape (9/10) Archived here
6. A Perfect Murder (9/10)
7. Split (8.5/10)
8. Bad Moms (8.5/10)
9. Basquiat (8.5/10)
10. Moonlight (8/10)
11. The Revenant (8/10)
12. The Shallows (7.5/10)
13. Focus (7.5/10) Archived here
13. Focus (7.5/10) Archived here
14. The Night Before (7.5/10)
15. 10 Cloverfield Lane (7/10)
16. The Walk (7/10)
17. Joy (5.5/10)
18. La La Land (5/10)
19. The Program (3/10)
19. The Program (3/10)
20. Rings (1.5/10)
21. Mother's Day (1.5/10)
21. Mother's Day (1.5/10)
Reviews to Come...
Hell or High Water
Sunshine Cleaning
Zero Dark Thirty
Why Him?
Shut In
Body of Lies
Why Him?
Shut In
Body of Lies
Untraceable
The Wonder Boys
Jackie Brown
Mean Streets
Nerve
The Hateful Eight
The Seven Five
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
How to Be Single
Deadpool
Ratatouille
The Spectacular Now
The Visit
Loving
In Bruges
Nocturnal Animals
War Dogs
The Boy
The Purge: Election Year
And more...
The Visit
Loving
In Bruges
Nocturnal Animals
War Dogs
The Boy
The Purge: Election Year
And more...
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